


The Nutcracker's Charm

by Reinhardt-the-Lionheart (themedic_josef)



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Might add more characters later as and when they happen, Nutcracker AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-28
Updated: 2016-12-09
Packaged: 2018-09-02 20:20:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8682091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themedic_josef/pseuds/Reinhardt-the-Lionheart
Summary: Gabriel Reyes loves his grandparents' toy store, so do the new employees Hanzo and Genji Shimada. All three of them have their favourite toys too. However things take a turn for the strange when the door is frozen shut and the three of them are trapped inside for the night.





	1. Just your average toy store

Gabriel Reyes had always loved his grandparent’s toy store and he’d been over the moon when they’d asked him to work there. It didn’t have your typical kid’s toys, however – rather, it stocked figurines, action figures, ornaments and plush toys and Gabriel’s personal favourite, the hand-carved nutcrackers. Each toy had been made by his grandparents or their friends, leaving something to be admired in the skill and quality of each piece and it had Gabriel almost jealous. In spite of himself, he endeavoured to learn from his grandparents if only to make a nutcracker of his own. His obsession had come from the toy store’s most expensive and most prized possession – a hand-carved, ornately finished and beautifully detailed nutcracker in the character of ‘the Strike Commander’ from the popular card game his family had created – Overwatch. Each character had been inspired by people his family either knew or had met in passing but no one in the family seemed to recall the man who had inspired the Strike Commander and it drove Gabriel insane – he _needed_ to meet the man such a handsome nutcracker had been made in the image of. Sure, he had others he liked but Gabe always got so _possessive_ if he saw a customer looking at _his_ nutcracker. He wanted it, he wanted _him_ in his perfect crystal glass case with his perfectly painted blue uniform and perfectly blushed cheeks. Gabriel _needed_ his nutcracker.

In the years that passed (all of two) the nutcracker had not sold, much to Gabriel’s delight, and two employees had joined him in the store. The two Shimada boys that had applied for the positions being offered one busy summer worked diligently and had even inspired characters of their own; an archer and a cyborg, both wielding the power to summon the great dragons from their Japanese culture. Their figurines were being designed still, Gabriel’s grandfather adamant on making them even though Hanzo, the eldest and more humble, had insisted it wasn’t necessary; though Genji, the younger, had been overjoyed at the prospect. Even Gabriel hadn’t been exempt from gaining his own character made – well, he’d been given two, technically speaking. He had been given two characters, one from each of his beloved grandparents for his 24th birthday, and he’d adored them. One was the heroic, if often sometimes shady, Blackwatch Commander who did the kind of dirty work the Overwatch’s Strike Commander was too good to do. The other was the villainous Reaper, who stood tall and ominous in the ‘dark corner’ of the toy store, his throne being a Gothic castle of sorts that seemed to constantly flow with black smoke. As creepy as that was sometimes, Gabriel still loved the two sides given to his character and couldn’t stop himself from imagining him fighting side-by-side with his nutcracker against the villainous Reaper.

 In fact Gabriel had noticed after a while that each Shimada had their own favoured toys too. Hanzo was greatly taken by one of the last plush toys of the cowboy character McCree from the Overwatch collection, the more serious brother spending an almost absurd amount of time reorganising the ‘plush-Cree’s’ between tending to other tasks around the store. Genji had taken a liking to a very different character from the rugged cowboy plush, his eyes being caught by a fragile crystal glass ornament of the Shambali monk Zenyatta. He, too, spent as much time as discretely possible around the crystal glass ornament cabinet to ‘subtly’ admire the beautifully made ornament and Gabe couldn’t fault him for it – Zenyatta was very well made and polished to shining perfection, not to mention the incredible attention to detail on the ornament such as the individual folds in the robes he wore and each bead that were delicately draped about his neck. Gabriel couldn’t blame either of the brothers for their favourites, especially since he had had his own favourite for at least four years now. He supposed it was just the way the toy store worked its strange magic on them, after all they were all grown men.

* * *

It was a cold, brisk morning in early December when Gabriel’s grandmother took ill. The news had reached him as he’d been opening up the store ready for the day, his hands shaking as he put the cash float in the till before he cleaned up the ornate, hand-carved counter it rest on. He took a slow, deep breath as he closed the text that had delivered the bad news before switching his phone screen off. Gabriel needed to focus now on the job at hand, looking up at Hanzo from where the man stood just before him with a look of concern on his face.

‘Are you alright?’

‘I’m fine. Grandma’s in hospital, but I’m fine and we have a job to do. Come on.’ Gabriel said quite firmly, watching Hanzo nod gently and move off to finish rearranging the shelves by the plush toys again for perhaps the fifth time as Gabe moved to the door. He stared at the vaguely frosted glass on the door, taking a deep breath again before unlocking the door and flipping the sign to ‘Open’. With any luck, it’d be a good day today and it’d be enough to distract Gabe from the news concerning his grandmother. _Hopefully_.

* * *

It had been a good day and Gabriel couldn’t be more grateful for that as he cashed up and waited for Hanzo and Genji to finish cleaning and tidying the shelves so he could lock up, it already nearing eleven at night after a bustling late night shopping that had left a large majority of their popular soft toy shelves nearly bare. Gabriel was dead on his feet, and so were the Shimada brothers as they wearily stacked the shelves together and for once no bickering was to be heard from them as Gabriel had become rather accustomed to in the evenings after closing up. It was silence for a large part as Gabriel finished counting, whistling to himself before noting down the takings for the day.

‘Alright, we can go now guys. Took one hell of a lot today to earn a day off tomorrow I think.’ Gabriel teased, watching Genji’s green-haired head bob up in eagerness at the prospect and earning a laugh from the dark-skinned man. ‘I’m kidding, Genji, its December and people are gonna be wanting to buy their kids all sorts of toys.’ He smiled, a disappointed noise leaving the younger Shimada as Hanzo shook his head.

‘Honestly Genji, I don’t know how you always fall for that.’ Hanzo scolded lightly, tutting as he finished stocking the soft toys that had been almost ravaged that evening.

‘Hey, I can dream, okay?’ Genji huffed, rolling his eyes as he finished with the tree decorations on their respective display stands, the two brothers soon moving out to the back room to tidy the boxes away and grab their thick winter coats as Gabriel finished tidying the counter and pulled on his favourite black hoodie. He whistled to himself as he moved to the door, tugging at the handle before frowning. It didn’t budge.

‘Gabriel? What’s the hold up?’ Genji asked as he saw the temporary boss struggling with the door.

‘It won’t open.’

‘Did you lock it?’

‘No, I didn’t lock it. Do you think I’m stupid?’ Gabe growled a little, Genji smirking. ‘ _Don’t_ answer that unless you want to carry on being paid.’

‘I’m jus’ saying.’

‘I _didn’t_ lock it. I think its frozen shut.’ Gabe frowned, Hanzo mirroring his look and approaching the door.

‘Are you quite sure it has frozen? How? It hasn’t rained today for any ice to have gotten in there?’ Hanzo said, the two of them puzzling over it before Genji recalled something he’d seen earlier while Gabe had been in the toilet.

‘Ohhhhh… I think I know what happened.’ Genji said quietly, rubbing the back of his neck. ‘I forgot about this, but someone came up to the door earlier and sprayed something all around it I think.’ He admitted, watching Hanzo’s face turn to thunder.

‘You what?! And you _forgot_??’

‘I didn’t think anything of it, I just thought it was someone being weird! I didn’t think it’d _freeze the door_!’ Genji yelped as his brother turned on him, Gabriel groaning and letting his head hit the wooden frame of the door.

‘Great, so we’re stuck here until that defrosts because there is no back door and I don’t have anything to try and defrost it with.’ He sighed, hitting his head once lightly on the doorframe before turning and looking at the two brothers. ‘Hanzo, knock it off. I’m gonna call my grandfather, see if he can’t come and do something about it.’

* * *

A brief phone call later and an exchange of hurried and angered Spanish left Gabriel reeling. His grandfather couldn’t come and help them. At all. He was staying at the hospital with his grandmother and the weather had taken a severe turn for the worst, almost being deemed blizzard-worthy weather as the snow was falling harder when they all looked out the window. Great. So they were stuck there, locked in and it was going to be all night. Any potential services had closed for the night, any potential help had closed for the night and any friends that could try to assist were either busy, on holiday or not able to get out because of the weather.

‘So what are we going to do now?’ Genji asked, Hanzo sighing.

‘There isn’t anything we can do, Genji, we’re stuck here all night.’ Gabriel answered before the grumpier of the two brothers could. ‘Looks like we’re having a little sleepover. Just as well there’s some blankets in the workshop that grandma used to use to protect things from dust.’ He said, shaking his head. ‘Hanzo, come help dig them out. Genji, try and find that space heater, it should be in the back room somewhere. Drag it out if you find it and plug it in by the counter. We can huddle down there I guess.’ Gabriel ordered slightly, disappearing into the workshop with Hanzo and fortunately finding the much-needed blankets stowed away in a bag. By the time they’d finished dragging it out from where it had been forcefully tucked away Genji had gotten the space heater up and running and was already huddled around it. The minutes ticked by and already it was coming up to midnight, Gabriel handing out all the blankets to use as pillows and covers before the sudden chiming of the grandfather clock that stood tall and proud, dominated by a large, hand-carved wooden owl on its top, in the front corner of the store made them all jump. All three looked over and watched as the partially mechanised owl raised its wings and spread them, a rather wonderful thing to see for the second time that day, before dust seemed to fall from it in great amounts. A frown passed Gabriel’s face – he’d dusted that thing meticulously earlier, it couldn’t possibly be _that_ dusty already, could it? Reluctantly Gabriel got up and approached the grandfather clock, but before he could reach it the owl seemed to come to _life_ and spread its great wings further, hooting at him and shaking more dust – no, _glitter_ – from its wings that _bounced_ once it hit the floor all around Gabriel’s feet. It bounced and sparkled and seemed impossible, completely _impossible_ , as it spread throughout the toy store and glowed brightly. The grandfather clock chimed loud again and all of a sudden the store seemed far warmer than the space heater had made it and a warm glow spread across the store, a brightness akin to soft candlelight that made Gabriel more curious than tentative as he slowly moved back to where Hanzo and Genji were staring in a completely stunned, speechless nature. Gabriel didn’t need to ask if they were seeing it too, he could tell from their silence that they were seeing exactly what he was.

Then realisation came to Gabe as he caught movement from the corner of his eye, head snapping over to one of the toy shelves in time to see one of them _moving_. It was moving and it was climbing down off its careful place on its shelf, then there was another moving and another. The toys were coming to _life_ all around them and they could hear _voices_ ; little soft voices that chattered away in growing volume until it sounded like a mildly busy store. Then, as Gabriel’s eyes swept across the restless store, they settled on movement from a particular shelf. He was hesitant to move closer, afraid of stepping on one of the many, many toys that moved around his feet nonchalant and uncaring of their new guests that stared in awe at the activity around them. The shelf with Gabriel’s nutcracker was coming alive too, and he watched as the two figures that stood either side of the glass case moved around and stretched themselves out. The sniper figurine of Ana appeared to give a weary groan, stretching her back while the antique-like wind-up figurine of the Crusader, Reinhardt, shifted and moved and stretched himself out too, both of them moving from their places as Gabe’s eyes soon fixed on his nutcracker. Sparkles wound their way up to him, twirling around his case before exploding into miniature fireworks almost and the nutcracker seemed to be filled with life after that. His colours became brighter, his joints starting to move and then his eyes opened. He looked around with a sense of curiosity and innocence that Gabriel could only just about make out from where he stood frozen to the spot, staring at his perfectly blushed and rounded cheeks and his bright blonde hair and the way he moved inside his case before trying to open it. Ana held it shut.

‘No, you aren’t leaving.’ She said firmly, her voice gentle but firm. Almost no-nonsensical. ‘This place is not safe for you. You are staying in your case whether you like it or not.’

Reinhardt seemed to give a rumble of agreement.

‘Ana is right, little one, you cannot leave your case. You know the dangers that are out here.’ He said, voice deep and German accent thick. The nutcracker crossed his arms and seemed to give a huff.

‘But the _glass ornaments_ get to move around! They’re more fragile than I am! Why can’t I leave?’ He said, voice somewhat soft but definitely music to Gabe’s ears.

‘That doesn’t matter.’ Ana tutted, shaking her head. ‘You aren’t leaving. You are the most expensive thing in here!’

‘That isn’t a reason.’

‘It is reason enough, Jack.’

At that, the nutcracker huffed again and crossed his arms tighter, slumping against the back of his case as Reinhardt stood guard. Gabriel couldn’t believe this, he just _couldn’t_. He stared in disbelief, mirroring the dumbfounded expressions of the brothers behind him, before speaking.

‘This can’t be happening.’ He breathed, voice quiet but enough for every toy to hear him. They all froze, hundreds and hundreds of tiny heads turning towards him and silence falling over the store. There was a beat of dead air before a new voice spoke, rougher and Southern and seeming to come from the front of the crowd of toys. Gabriel looked down, staring at the soft plush of the McCree character only to find it staring back at him, little arms crossed and stitched expression determined.

‘Oh it sure is partner. So y’all better brace y’selves for one hell of a night you ain’t ever gon’ forget.’


	2. A New Mission

Gabriel _had_ to be dreaming. He must have tripped over a box in the storeroom or something and this was what he was dreaming while he was out. There was _no way_ this could be happening. He’d been struck speechless as he’d heard the plush toy speak, really _speak_ , to him and even Hanzo and Genji behind him were struck dumb at the sight. All of the toys in the toy store were _alive_. Every last one, ranging from the action figures to the ornaments, the plush toys to the figurines. Everything was moving around and interacting with one another after the initial shock of them being seen went away, all going about their business as if Gabriel speaking hadn’t happened, as if they didn’t have witnesses to the events transpiring there and then. Gabriel almost felt _afraid_ of what was happening, heart racing as he covered his face with his hands and closed his eyes. This had to be a dream.

‘No, hold on. No.’ he said slowly, head spinning as Hanzo tentatively moved to stand beside Gabriel, wary of where he was standing. ‘This _can’t_ be happening. This isn’t possible.’

‘It must be. I’m seeing this too and so is Genji. This isn’t a dream, Gabriel.’ Hanzo said surprisingly calmly before he knelt down to the little plush-Cree before him. ‘How is this possible?’ The plush toy seemed to smirk at the other, little stuffed arms crossed and body straightening. In the back of Hanzo’s mind, he briefly noted that that shouldn’t be at all possible – he’d tried to get him to stand up before like that, but the toy simply wasn’t designed for it. This had to be the work of some kind of sorcery, and Hanzo would even go as far as to say _magic_ was involved here.

‘Well, I dunno _how_ it’s possible, but it is.’ McCree grinned, his little button eyes alight with mischief and charm. ‘And you ain’t even seen all of it yet! Wait ‘til that owl hoots again, then y’all are gonna be in for one heck of a surprise, better’n this one!’ He chuckled, Hanzo finding himself smiling at the charming little plush he’d fawned over so much in the daytimes. Gabriel made a noise.

‘This has to be some kind of magic, or drugs.’ He sighed, rubbing his face. ‘Or I’m hallucinating. Or having a lucid dream.’ He attempted to rationalise, Hanzo giving a slight chuckle.

‘Then somehow we are all dreaming the same dream, Gabriel. Just accept this for the moment until we get an answer.’ He said, standing up again as Genji soon moved over carefully, staring at the glass ornaments case and particularly at Zenyatta. He watched as the ornament stretched slowly and climbed down from his perch, looking up at Genji and smiling in a way that tranquillity just radiated from him.

‘Hello.’ Zenyatta greeted, Genji gasping as his eyes went wide.

‘H-Hello.’ He stammered a little, wonder in his eyes as he looked back at Hanzo and grinned rather childishly. ‘This is _definitely_ happening!’ He laughed, Zenyatta giving a little laugh too.

‘It certainly is.’ Zenyatta said softly, looking over to the owl that sat atop the grandfather clock proudly. ‘Ah, here we go. You may want to stand back over there.’ Zenyatta advised gently, smiling warmly at Genji and watching him move back just as the owl flared its wings again. There was another explosion of dust-like glitter that spread throughout the store again, Gabriel taking a step back and watching as the toys seemed to come even more to life. The changes were more evident in the ones that weren’t typically humanoid or made for human actions, like the plush toys, the ornaments and the wind-ups. The ornaments took on some form of colour as opposed to their general transparency, the wind-ups could move without aid of their keys to keep them wound and the plush toys actually became something akin to miniature humans. Hanzo stared in awe at the little McCree plush as the glitter wound its way around his body, watching as he seemed to grow just a little taller to accommodate his new, fully formed limbs and stretching with a groan. He still looked very soft, but he was now in far more detail than before and it kept Hanzo’s gaze firmly stuck to him.

‘See somethin’ ya like?’ McCree grinned as he tipped his hat to Hanzo, chuckling as the other’s cheeks went just a little bit red. ‘Now then, there’s gotta be reason you folks get to witness all of this t’night.’ McCree said with a hum as he rubbed his beard, looking around before Ana and Reinhardt joined him having climbed down from their shelf. ‘Oh, hey Ana, ma’am. Reinhardt, sir.’ McCree greeted, tipping his hat to them too.

‘Jesse.’ Ana smiled, looking up at their new guests. ‘Working overtime, boys?’ She laughed gently, her aged face crinkling with a warm smile and a soft laugh at their expressions. Gabriel was still dumbfounded.

‘I. Uh. We were-‘ Gabriel started, Ana raising her hand and shaking her head with another laugh.

‘Don’t worry, I know why you’re all stuck here.’ She said, a twinkle in her eye. ‘You got shut in by some daft kid who iced the door. It’s fine, just make yourselves cosy there and don’t get frostbite.’ She said, turning as if to go before hesitating and turning back. ‘And don’t go to the back corner, where the Reaper’s lair is.’ She warned. Gabriel raised a brow.

‘Why not? Don’t tell me he’s come to life too.’ He frowned, staring at Ana’s completely serious expression. ‘Great. He’s come to life too.’ He groaned, shaking his head. ‘But even then, what’s he going to do to us anyway? He’s a _toy_. I can just put him in a box until morning.’

‘He’s the most dangerous thing in this store. Under _no_ circumstances do any of you go back there, alright? He may have been ‘just a toy’ in the day, but right now, in _our_ world, he’s a deadly threat to all of us.’ Ana said solemnly, watching Gabriel and unaware of the black mist that worked its way through the slowly dispersing crowd of toys. ‘He is merciless, he is soulless and he does not care about a single toy here other than himself and the nutcracker.’

‘That why you keep him locked up?’ Gabe asked, almost criticizing of Ana’s actions prior to now as he, too, was oblivious to the black mist that approached until it was too late. It swarmed around Ana with a snarling noise and a figure rose out of the darkness. The Reaper was here, and he wasn’t going to leave empty handed. Gabe watched and went to intervene, reaching to grab the dark-clad toy only to have his hand scratched particularly sharply by the Reaper’s talons.

‘None shall intervene, or you will perish.’ Reaper hissed, voice deep and low as he gripped Ana by the arm and his dark mist swallowed them. The light the toy houses provided flickered and went out, even the space heater going out and plunging them all into darkness. When the light did eventually return Reaper, and Ana, were nowhere to be seen.

Panic immediately spread through the toys as they gathered around the spot where Ana had previously stood, Reinhardt and McCree at the front and staring in shock. The both of them had been too slow to react to do something to prevent Ana’s kidnap, and now they were silent while everyone else panicked. Gabriel watched them all, silent and in some degree of shock too as he cradled his hand before a soft voice rang above the panic of the others.

‘Excuse me, excuse me please!’ A voice said, calmly despite the events. Steadily, the crowd parted and the nutcracker stood between Reinhardt and McCree, staring at the black-stained spot Ana and Reaper had been in. ‘Goodness…’ He breathed, as Gabriel stared at the nutcracker, heart starting to beat faster again as he stared at him before he slowly knelt down.

‘Hello.’ Gabriel said after a moment, catching the attention of the nutcracker, watching him look up and smile.

‘Hello. I’m Jack.’ He smiled, expression warm and caring. ‘I know who you are, Gabriel.’ He gave a wider smile at Gabriel’s somewhat surprised expression before it dropped into a look of concern. ‘Is your hand alright?’ He asked, eyes wide as Gabriel looked down at the little beads of blood.

‘I’m fine, it isn’t important right now.’ He said, ‘What’s important is that the Reaper just stole your friend.’

‘Our _leader_.’ McCree huffed, crossing his arms before Zenyatta carefully interrupted from where he’d just climbed down from his display case.

‘Our _interim_ leader.’

‘It don’t matter, either way that damned, good for nothin’ _demon_ stole her away! We ain’t getting’ her back!’ McCree growled, appearing to have already given up as Hanzo frowned.

‘Now is that any way for a gentleman to speak.’ Hanzo said firmly, almost scolding the cowboy. ‘I know your backstory, it says you have run hundreds of missions and done numerous things that should have killed you. Where is your courage now?’

‘Courage don’t matter in the face o’ the Reaper! None of that matters!’ McCree snapped, ‘We _tried_ goin’ against him before, and we lost too many toys to him! He ain’t like us, he’s an honest-to-god _demon_.’

Gabriel held a hand up.

‘Both of you, stop it.’ He said sharply, tired of the bickering already before he turned his attention back to the nutcracker. ‘Is there anything _we_ can do?’ Gabriel asked, gesturing to himself and the two Shimadas.

‘Hm…’ Jack hummed thoughtfully, looking up at the three of them. ‘Maybe. Since you aren’t toys, you aren’t likely to get as hurt as any of us. But you don’t know what you’re up against.’ He mused, taking to pacing a little as Gabriel stared at him and drank in his frankly gorgeous appearance.

‘I do not think for a moment they would be able to handle what lies beyond Reaper’s lair.’ Reinhardt rumbled, shaking his head.

‘Same here. They ain’t seen what he can do.’ McCree said, Hanzo rolling his eyes.

‘Actually, I think they _would_ be of great assistance.’ Jack said calmly, voice soft as he looked up at Gabriel and smiled. ‘If you do agree to this, you will be facing unprecedented dangers that you wouldn’t experience in your own world. It will undoubtedly be dangerous, there is just no denying it, so I need to be certain. Will you help us?’ Jack asked, gentle but there was a certain air of desperation about him. It was the same with the other toys, and it had to be serious since Reinhardt hadn’t made much of a fuss about Jack leaving his case to be out on the shop floor.

Gabriel looked down at them all, hundreds of little faces of varying shapes and sizes and styles looking at the three of them. He then looked back to Hanzo and Genji, both nodding their agreements. A smile passed his lips as he turned back to Jack.

‘We’ll help.’ He said, watching Jack’s face light up.

‘Great! We’ll go in through the Reaper’s lair at the back of the store, it’s the most direct route to get to Ana. Come on!’ Jack grinned, gesturing for them to follow as the toys parted to let them pass. McCree and Reinhardt followed closely behind the nutcracker as he moved off, Gabriel following with Hanzo and Genji in single file behind him. As they neared the display the lair rested on, a soft tapping approached and Jack turned to see Zenyatta running to catch up with them.

‘Zenyatta?’

‘I’m coming with you.’ He said firmly once he’d reached them, determination in his voice. ‘I know I’m a glass ornament, but I’m coming with you. If any of you get hurt, I can help.’ Jack blinked a little before sighing, evidently reluctant.

‘Alright. But please, stay safe, okay? I can’t promise that I will be able to protect you, and I don’t want to have to explain to Mondatta if anything happens to you, alright?’ Jack said gently, watching Zenyatta smile and nod.

They all moved off again, stopping short of the table the lair was on as Gabriel stared at it in borderline shock. While it used to have a small amount of mist about it during the day, he’d never seen it in such a state where it was _exuding_ a thick black mist that almost transcended into a state of fog. It rolled off the table and evaporated, the lair seeming to be enveloped in more darkness than it usually was. In fact, it seemed far more frightening and Gabriel couldn’t help the shiver that travelled down his spine.

‘How exactly are we meant to fit in there?’ He said, only just thinking about it.

‘Yeah, we’re hardly toys like you are.’ Genji piped up after a while, looking down at Jack and smirking. ‘Do we just take the top of and pluck Ana out? That’d be-‘

‘Too easy.’ Jack said, a sad smile on his face. ‘While I wish that we could just do that and save the risk, we can’t. We’ve tried to pry the lid off before any time he’s kidnapped an innocent toy, but it just won’t come off. So I guess we’ll have to bring you down to our size.’ He smiled, face brightening again as there was a slightly distant hoot from the grandfather clock’s owl. Once again, glittery dust spread throughout the store, thought it didn’t seem to have any effect until it reached the three humans. It moved all up their bodies in spirals, some landing on Gabriel’s nose and making him sneeze.

‘What was that for??’ He huffed, crossing his arms before he seemed to shrink a little. ‘What the?!’ He gasped as it happened again, and again, and again. He stared as everything rapidly got bigger around him, including Hanzo and Genji for a brief moment before it happened to them too. At the same time, their clothes rippled and changed and turned into something otherworldly almost before they realised that it was largely in keeping with their characters’ designs. Gabriel gasped softly as he was given the gift of two shotguns and multiple cartridges strapped to his thigh and hooked on a belt or two around his waist, Genji being given a long katana-like sword and the sheath being strapped to his back while Hanzo was gifted with a powerful bow and a full quiver of various types of arrows. Along his left arm and the exposed left pec snaked streaks of blue light, along the lines of his dragon tattoo that had inspired the powerful ability of his character, and didn’t go amiss from McCree’s watchful eyes. It wasn’t long before the three of them were certainly toy-sized, all briefly examining their new weapons and clothing with Gabriel standing just shorter than Jack and in complete shock.

‘That, was what that was for.’ Jack giggled a little, smiling. ‘You know, you’re so much prettier this size.’ He hummed before grabbing some thread and tying it to a keyring, handing it to Reinhardt and watching him throw it up to the table, tugging until it caught on something. ‘In hindsight, we probably should have gotten you to put us up on the table first.’ Jack shrugged, Gabriel still a little stunned before he slowly snapped out of it. Christ Jack was even more stunning up close like this, and it was making him unable to think properly.

‘Uh. Yeah. We definitely, definitely should’ve… should’ve done that.’ He muttered in agreement as Hanzo was staring at McCree. The cowboy was almost certainly taller than him now and he couldn’t help but feel a tingle of fear, nervousness and excitement shoot down his spine at that.

‘Howdy.’ McCree grinned down at Hanzo, stepping closer to him. ‘You certainly look mighty fine this close. I’ll be sad to see ya go when our mission’s done with.’ He chuckled lowly, enough for Hanzo to blush and go rather warm.

‘Hush, and get climbing, otherwise we will be left behind.’ Hanzo said, trying to stop himself from going any redder as he gestured to the thread and where Gabriel and Jack were already climbing after Reinhardt. McCree gave another laugh and pat Hanzo’s arm, moving over to the thread and starting to climb with Hanzo in tow as Genji was marvelling over Zenyatta after he’d sheathed his sword and put away his throwing stars. He stood a little taller than the Shambali monk and was overjoyed at being able to be this close to him.

‘This is amazing.’ He breathed as he admired the coloured glass ornament in a much more personal manner, Zenyatta giving a soft laugh and smiling widely.

‘It truly is, isn’t it? You look very nice this close up.’ Zenyatta said, a warm look on his surprisingly youthful face as he gestured for Genji to begin climbing.

‘No, please, after you.’ Genji said, shaking his head. ‘I don’t want anything to happen to you.’ He said quietly, a slight redness to his cheeks. Zenyatta smiled again.

‘That is very kind of you, Genji. Thank you.’ He said softly, starting to climb and Genji following carefully.

After a couple of minutes they were all stood at the top, staring at the dark and black maw of the Reaper’s lair. All of them were hesitant, even the humans once they could see it up close and much more personal. It was like the blackness seemed to go on forever, and god only knew what awaited them inside.

‘Well, we can’t stand around here all day.’ Gabriel said, looking at Jack as the nutcracker readied his pulse rifle and felt his jaw drop a little. It looked even more awesome this close too. Jack smiled, though it was tinted with evident nervousness as Reinhardt readied his frankly giant hammer.

‘We absolutely cannot wait, we need to move now, for Ana’s sake!’ The German said firmly, nodding as he placed his helmet on.

‘Reinhardt’s right. Come on.’ Jack said, taking the first step towards the lair with Gabriel by his side and following, the others staying close behind the two apparent leaders. All that any of them could pray for was that this wouldn’t be as hard as they’d been told, and that they would at least make it out alive.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, wanted to get some form of a Nutcracker AU out in time for Christmas! I hope you all enjoyed this first chapter and please let me know in the comments if any of you are interested in reading more!


End file.
